Category: religion

[caption id="attachment_150" align="alignright" width="202" caption="from The Onion"][/caption]
Christianity commonly teaches that God always answers prayer in one of four ways (here's an example):
1) Yes
2) No
3) Wait
4) A specific answer. ex. "Choose chocolate, not vanilla."
Let's examine these answers a bit more, shall we? I hope it's agreed that no one can physically hear God. We just don't have casual back-and-forth chit-chats with the Almighty Whatsit. Prayer, for even the most sensitive and faithful religious individual, is a one-way street. If we could hear God, we wouldn't need to guess what he was saying in response, now would we?
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Dear Previous Self,
I love you, chica. You're delightful, passionate, curious, and charmingly sardonic. And whatthehell, you're me; of course I've got a soft spot. But oy, you have got to break out of that slump of blissful ignorance you've been stuck in since that first felt storyboard in Sunday school. There are some things that must be said. They may not convince you or influence you, but what kind of Future Self would I be if I didn't try to knock you upside the head?
1) You were not born a Christian. No matter what your family is or was culturally, you are only a member of a religion once you choose to be. Unfortunately, parents don't trust their children to think and learn on their own, and the word "indoctrination" should be used for what inevitably follows.
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A common Christian teaching is to neither date nor marry someone who is not part of the same religion or denomination as you. The state of being committed to someone of another belief set is usually called “being unequally yoked” (see 2 Cor. 6:14). When I was a Christian, I Read more…

What is it like to move away from the religion you've spent your life enjoying, loving, and following? As this blog begins to form, I hope to illustrate my own experiences for you, my haven't-had-enough-time-yet-to-be-loyal reader. I hope these disjointed memories show how even today I'm still forming my thoughts, beliefs, and character apart from religion.
Slide back in time with me as I re-visit a private journal entry from my journey into non-belief:

July 22, 2008

For the first time in my life, someone asked me a question that began, "As a non-Christian, do you..."
This may not sound odd to you, but since my Christianity has been a vital and overwhelming influence on my entire life, development, identity, and choices, having someone essentially confirm what I've been wondering is a bit unnerving. I don't want to say I've deconverted. I really ache to avoid it. What if this is a "phase"? I wouldn't want to say I was one thing and then pull an "Oops, just kidding!"
Most of all, I don't want to tell the people who still think "that's GG, she's a Christian" that I'm not so sure any more.
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